Trump Speaks with France, China amid Mounting Tensions with N/Korea

US President Donald Trump called the French President yesterday amid mounting tensions with North Korea the day after he said he was considering further economic sanctions against the nation. Trump has also contacted the leader of China and the governor of Guam. Japan, meanwhile, deployed the PAC-3 land-based missile interception system to four different locations.

In a call Trump had with President Emmanuel Macron of France, the two discussed the need to confront the increasingly dangerous situation associated with North Korea’s destabilising and escalatory behaviour, according to a White House readout of the call.

During the call, both leaders discussed working with allies to enforce United Nations sanctions and denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.

However, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for restraint during a phone call yesterday with Trump over the escalating tensions. Trump has urged the Chinese government to exert more pressure on the North Korean regime, with little success.

During the call, Trump also informed Xi that he plans to direct his administration to investigate Chinese trade practices tomorrow.

Earlier yesterday, Macron had issued a statement voicing his concern at the ballistic and nuclear threat coming from North Korea, adding that the international community should work with Pyongyang to “resume the path of dialogue without conditions.”

Macron said France and other UN Security Council members want North Korea to “proceed with the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear and ballistic programmes.”

In a related development, Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, said he spoke with Trump and chief of staff John Kelly, and he posted the audio of the call on Facebook. Guam is a US territory in an area of the Pacific that North Korea has threatened to strike with missiles.